FRANCISCAN UNIVERSITY NEWS

Franciscan University Announces New Summer 2014 Youth Conferences in Toronto, Canada, and Steubenville

There will now be 20 total youth conferences each summer.

October 09, 2013

STEUBENVILLE, OH—Franciscan University of Steubenville
will offer two new Summer Youth Conferences in 2014, one in Toronto,
Canada, and one at Franciscan University in Ohio, bringing the
total schedule to 20 conferences in 11 states and 2 Canadian provinces.
In summer 2013, over 42,000 teens attended these Catholic
youth weekends, which seek to ignite the minds and hearts of
participants with love for God and love for the Catholic Church.

The Toronto
youth conference will be held July 4-6 at the historic and
recently refurbished Maple Leaf Gardens. It will be the second youth
conference in Canada and joins the one held for the last seven years in
Antigonish, Nova Scotia, which annually draws 600-1,000 teens.

John Beaulieu,
director of Partnerships and Engagement for the Christian Outreach
Office at Franciscan University, says that in the past, while some
Canadian teens were able to acquire passports and cross the border to
attend conferences, it proved difficult for others.

“This puts
the youth conference right in their own diocese,” says Beaulieu, who
expects the conference in Toronto to draw upwards of 2,500 teens. He has
been working with Father Frank Portelli, the director of the Office of
Catholic Youth for the Archdiocese of Toronto, for nearly a year to plan
the conference.

Father Portelli said he has received much positive feedback about the Toronto conference.

“We want
a high-energy, intensely, unabashedly Catholic celebration that focuses
on young people in high school,” Father Portelli said. “It’s the
beginning of what I hope will be a growth opportunity for Steubenville
in Toronto.”

Beaulieu said that in addition to the
surrounding area, the Toronto conference hopes to draw from across the
region, including Hamlin, Ottawa, and Northern Ontario.

The new
youth conference in Ohio will be the fifth one offered on
Franciscan University’s main campus each summer. The new conference will
make it easier for youth within a 300-mile radius to attend,
says Beaulieu. It will also give more options to youth groups that
embark on 20-hour bus rides from as far away as Texas and Louisiana.

Beaulieu expects
that as word spreads, the campus conferences will reach total
capacity of over 11,000 youth in the next five years.

“They want
to come to Franciscan University, the home site that sparked the youth
conference phenomenon,” says Beaulieu.“The first youth conference was
held on the campus of Franciscan University in 1976. They know there is a
strong presence of the Franciscan friars here, they appreciate praying
in our Portiuncula Chapel, and spending a weekend in prayer and
fellowship on this very Catholic campus.”

The
conferences are an outreach of Franciscan University of Steubenville,
Ohio, and are co-sponsored by local bishops, youth organizations, and
diocesan offices to create a one-of-a-kind weekend immersion into the
Catholic faith for teens. Renowned youth speakers give talks on chastity
and living the Catholic faith at home and at school, and equip teens
with the tools they need to live out their faith daily. In addition
to the talks, teens have the opportunity for the sacrament of
confession, and take part in praise and worship, Mass, and eucharistic
adoration.

For more information on all Franciscan University Youth Conferences, visit the recently expanded website, www.steubenvilleconferences.com. Registration for all on-campus youth conferences and Steubenville Toronto begins on January 13.

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Franciscan University of Steubenville is no ordinary university, and a Franciscan education is no ordinary education. Rather, it's an education as rigorous and demanding as it is faithful--an education that challenges you intellectually, forms you professionally, and feeds you spiritually.